Bac Kan province declares ASF-free status on April 12. (Photo: VNA)Bac Kan (VNA) – The northern
mountainous province of Bac Kan has become the to
declare the end of the local African swine fever (ASF) outbreak.
On March 13, Ngan Son district reported an ASF
outbreak after a pig farmed by a household in Thom Ta hamlet of Thuong Quan
commune died on March 9, testing positive for the fatal virus.
Local authorities immediately took actions to
prevent this disease from spreading.
At the meeting to announce the
on April 12, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural
Development Nguyen Ngoc Cuong said that although no new outbreaks have been
reported over the last 30 days, the province has still issued warnings and
increased forces to prevent the recurrence of ASF.
Animal husbandry is an important sector in Bac
Kan, which farms about 181,000 pigs at present.
Hoa Binh province had previously declared its
ASF-free status on April 9.
Since ASF was first recorded in Vietnam on
February 1, the disease has spread to more than 20 provinces and cities.
According to the World Organisation for Animal
Health (OIE), ASF is a fatal infectious disease that spreads rapidly among pigs
but does not affect humans. The only known preventative measure is a mass
cull of infected livestock.
The OIE estimates that since early 2017, 20
countries reported ASF outbreaks with more than 1 million pigs culled.-VNA
Source: VietnamPlus
